Owen Wilson | The Guardianhttp://www.theguardian.com/film/owenwilson
Latest news and features from theguardian.com, the world's leading liberal voiceen-gbGuardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. 2015Tue, 03 Mar 2015 23:10:13 GMT2015-03-03T23:10:13Zen-gbGuardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. 2015The Guardianhttp://assets.guim.co.uk/images/guardian-logo-rss.c45beb1bafa34b347ac333af2e6fe23f.pnghttp://www.theguardian.com
Inherent Vice review – Thomas Pynchon’s stoner mystery runs out of puffhttp://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/feb/01/inherent-vice-review-mark-kermode
<p>Despite a star-spangled cast, a great soundtrack and impressive costumes, Paul Thomas Anderson’s adaptation fails to maintain the high</p><p>Stumbling out of <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/film/paul-thomas-anderson">Paul Thomas Anderson</a>’s deliriously woozy adaptation of <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/books/thomaspynch">Thomas Pynchon</a>’s 2009 stoner mystery novel, I wondered whether this is what it would feel like to smoke celluloid – to take a hit from a huge bong into which had been stuffed several thousand feet of heat-damaged film, along with umpteen yellowed pages of a <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/books/raymondchandler">Raymond Chandler</a> paperback and the melted vinyl of several <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/music/neilyoung">Neil Young</a> albums.</p><p>You certainly get the sense that this is a movie Anderson wants to you inhale rather than watch; to succumb to its strange paranoid rhythms, to float over its garbled incomprehensible plot and to laugh hysterically at its blitzed-and-fried slapstick humour.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/feb/01/inherent-vice-review-mark-kermode">Continue reading...</a>Inherent VicePaul Thomas AndersonJoaquin PhoenixThomas PynchonBenicio del ToroOwen WilsonFilmCultureSun, 01 Feb 2015 09:00:09 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/feb/01/inherent-vice-review-mark-kermodePhotograph: Warner BrosOwen Wilson and Joaquin Phoenix in Inherent Vice. Warner BrosPhotograph: Warner BrosOwen Wilson and Joaquin Phoenix in Inherent Vice. Warner BrosPhotograph: /Warner BrosBenicio del Toro and Joaquin Phoenix in
Inherent Vice. Photograph: Warner BrosPhotograph: /Warner BrosBenicio del Toro and Joaquin Phoenix in
Inherent Vice. Photograph: Warner BrosMark Kermode, Observer film critic2015-02-01T09:00:09ZInherent Vice: why Thomas Pynchon is made for the movieshttp://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/jan/16/inherent-vice-why-thomas-pynchon-is-made-for-the-movies
<p>Hollywood may have been slow to embrace Pynchon’s brand of Great American Novel, but this new film adaptation starring Joaquin Phoenix is well worth the wait</p><p>Until very recently, cinema and television completely shunned the postmodernist authors known for their gargantuan and elaborate takes on the Great American Novel. Works such as <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/books/thomaspynchon">Thomas Pynchon</a>’s <em>Gravity’s Rainbow</em>, <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/books/dondelillo">Don DeLillo</a>’s <em>Underworld</em> and <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/books/david-foster-wallace">David Foster Wallace</a>’s <em>Infinite Jest</em> were evidently too monstrous and opaque, and had too many strands, characters and locations, to be processed; but the writers’ shorter and less complicated novels (Pynchon’s <a href="http://bookshop.theguardian.com/crying-of-lot-49.html"><em>The Crying of Lot 49</em></a>, for example, or DeLillo’s <a href="http://bookshop.theguardian.com/white-noise-picador-40th-anniversary-edition.html"><em>White Noise</em></a>) were also overlooked – their idiosyncratic, unpitchable stories were apparently not ones even arthouse directors wanted to tell.</p><p>It was after Foster Wallace’s death in 2008, and with the near-contemporaries DeLillo and Pynchon entering their late 70s, that the first tentative screen adaptations started to appear. A movie of the younger novelist’s short story collection <em>Brief Interviews</em> premiered at Sundance in 2009. <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/film/davidcronenberg">David Cronenberg</a>’s version of DeLillo’s novella <em>Cosmopolis</em> was released in 2012, the same year that <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/the-simpsons"><em>The Simpsons</em></a> reworked a Foster Wallace non-fiction account of a cruise. And now Pynchon’s 2009 crime novel <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/film/inherent-vice"><em>Inherent Vice</em></a> – a mixture of noir and narcotics helpfully centred, like Cosmopolis, on one person, Californian private detective Doc Sportello – has become the first of his works to be filmed.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/jan/16/inherent-vice-why-thomas-pynchon-is-made-for-the-movies">Continue reading...</a>FictionBooksFilmCultureFilmJoaquin PhoenixReese WitherspoonFilm adaptationsThomas PynchonOwen WilsonJosh BrolinBenicio del ToroFri, 16 Jan 2015 14:00:03 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/jan/16/inherent-vice-why-thomas-pynchon-is-made-for-the-moviesPhotograph: Warner Bros/Courtesy Everet/RE/Warner Bros/Courtesy Everet/RE... and with Reese WitherspoonPhotograph: Warner Bros/Courtesy Everet/RE/Warner Bros/Courtesy Everet/RE... and with Reese WitherspoonPhotograph: Allstar/WARNER BROS./Sportsphoto Ltd./AllstarNarcotics and noir … Joanna Newsom, Joaquin Phoenix and Katherine Waterson in Inherent Vice. Photographs: Sportsphoto Ltd/Allstar/Warner BrosPhotograph: Allstar/WARNER BROS./Sportsphoto Ltd./AllstarNarcotics and noir … Joanna Newsom, Joaquin Phoenix and Katherine Waterson in Inherent Vice. Photographs: Sportsphoto Ltd/Allstar/Warner BrosJohn Dugdale2015-01-16T14:00:03ZOwen Wilson on Night at the Museum 3: 'There's sexual stuff with the monkey?' – video interviewhttp://www.theguardian.com/film/video/2014/dec/18/owen-wilson-night-at-the-museum-video-interview
Owen Wilson, Rebel Wilson and Shawn Levy, the stars and director of Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb, speak to Catherine Shoard about museum culture, the Parthenon marbles and bestiality. The film, which also stars Ben Stiller, Steve Coogan and the late Robin Williams, reunites the cast of historical misfits (and a Capuchin monkey) for their third outing<br /><br />• Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb is in cinemas on 19 December <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/film/video/2014/dec/18/owen-wilson-night-at-the-museum-video-interview">Continue reading...</a>Night at the Museum: Secret of the TombFilmOwen WilsonComedyCultureThu, 18 Dec 2014 09:00:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/film/video/2014/dec/18/owen-wilson-night-at-the-museum-video-interviewCatherine Shoard and Richard Sprenger2014-12-18T09:00:00ZReally, really, ridiculously good looking Penelope Cruz set for Zoolander 2http://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/nov/21/penelope-cruz-set-for-zoolander-2
<p>The Oscar-winning actor will join Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson and Will Ferrell for the further adventures of Derek Zoolander, who must reinvent himself in a fast-changing fashion environment</p><p>Penelope Cruz will star in Zoolander 2, the long-gestating sequel to Ben Stiller’s classic comedy about a hapless male supermodel, <a href="http://deadline.com/2014/11/penelope-cruz-zoolander-2-ben-stiller-1201290525/">reports Deadline</a>.</p><p><br />The high-profile signing - Cruz is an Oscar-winner for Woody Allen’s Vicky Cristina Barcelona and one of the most recognisable Spanish actors in the world - suggests the follow up is back on track 13 years after Stiller first brought viewers Blue Steel and the Derek Zoolander Centre for Kids Who Can’t Read Good and Wanna Learn to Do Other Stuff Good Too. The new film, with a screenplay by Tropic Thunder’s Justin Theroux, is expected to see the return of Owen Wilson as rival supermodel Hansel and Will Ferrell as fashion industry mogul Mugatu. Stiller will naturally be back in the director’s chair, and will reprise his role as Zoolander. <br /></p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/nov/21/penelope-cruz-set-for-zoolander-2">Continue reading...</a>Penélope CruzWoody AllenBen StillerOwen WilsonFashionLife and styleFilmCultureOscars 2015Fri, 21 Nov 2014 10:29:47 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/nov/21/penelope-cruz-set-for-zoolander-2Photograph: TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFPOscar de la Renta and Penelope Cruz at the Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty gala in 2011.Photograph: TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFPOscar de la Renta and Penelope Cruz at the Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty gala in 2011.Ben Child2014-11-21T10:29:47ZInherent Vice review: a free range freak-out for California dreamershttp://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/oct/05/inherent-vice-review-joaquin-phoenix-paul-thomas-anderson
Paul Thomas Anderson gives the New York film festival a high with his woozy, inspired Thomas Pynchon adaptation, starring Joaquin Phoenix as a stoner sleuth<p>America makes no sense to the denizens of Gordita Beach, California, down by the ocean at the edge of the world. It's the end of the 60s, the death of the age of Aquarius. Everybody here appears to have mislaid the plot. Paul Thomas Anderson's gloriously rambunctious Inherent Vice follows the fortunes of a stoner investigator who finds himself hopelessly lost in a case he can't solve. Doc Sportello (Joaquin Phoenix) is interviewing witnesses in a frenzy and scribbling &quot;Paranoia Alert&quot; in his detective's notepad. It's clear from the outset that he's going nowhere fast.</p><p>Inherent Vice, by contrast, turns out to be a ramshackle triumph; a colourful detour disguised as a crime caper, making antic hay from Thomas Pynchon's 2009 novel. Anderson's yarn arrived at the New York film festival confidently billed as one of the prizes of the autumn season, buttressed by an all-star cast and exciting instant talk of Oscar glory. And yet Vice, for all its virtues, is too wild, baggy and disreputable to play well with Academy members - and this is surely for the best. The film's natural habitat is with the deadbeats and the dreamers, in a bygone California where hippie freak-ins bloom like wildflowers and a menu at the massage parlour advertises oral sex for $14.99. They should screen it in a pop-up cinema in a city park, with complimentary reefers and a henna tattoo.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/oct/05/inherent-vice-review-joaquin-phoenix-paul-thomas-anderson">Continue reading...</a>Inherent ViceFilmCulturePaul Thomas AndersonJoaquin PhoenixOwen WilsonJosh BrolinAmy AdamsFestivalsOscarsOscars 2015Benicio del ToroFilm adaptationsThomas PynchonSun, 05 Oct 2014 01:00:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/oct/05/inherent-vice-review-joaquin-phoenix-paul-thomas-andersonWarner Brothers/YouTubeWarner BrosMutton-chops dressed as a pig ... Joaquin Phoenix as the stoner sleuth in Inherent Vice. Photograph: Warner BrosWarner Bros/Warner BrosJoaquin Phoenix in Paul Thomas Anderson's Inherent Vice Photograph: Warner BrosXan Brooks2014-10-05T01:00:00ZInherent Vice trailer: watch Joaquin Phoenix in the first look at Paul Thomas Anderson's Thomas Pynchon adaptation – videohttp://www.theguardian.com/film/video/2014/sep/30/inherent-vice-trailer-joaquin-pheonix-paul-thomas-anderson-thomas-pynchon-video
Paul Thomas Anderson's new film, Inherent Vice, stars Joaquin Phoenix as a drug-addled private investigator drawn into a plot of farce and danger by an ex-lover. Co-starring Reese Witherspoon and with appearances from Benicio del Toro, Josh Brolin and Owen Wilson, Inherent Vice has its world premiere at the New York film festival this week <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/film/video/2014/sep/30/inherent-vice-trailer-joaquin-pheonix-paul-thomas-anderson-thomas-pynchon-video">Continue reading...</a>Inherent ViceCultureFilmPaul Thomas AndersonJoaquin PhoenixReese WitherspoonOwen WilsonJosh BrolinThomas PynchonBooksCrimeDramaComedyTue, 30 Sep 2014 11:13:34 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/film/video/2014/sep/30/inherent-vice-trailer-joaquin-pheonix-paul-thomas-anderson-thomas-pynchon-videoWarner BrosJoaquin Phoenix in Inherent Vice Photograph: Warner BrosGuardian Staff2014-09-30T11:13:34ZJames Acaster’s top of the copshttp://www.theguardian.com/stage/2014/sep/26/james-acaster-comedy-cops-chief-wiggum
<p>The comic from Kettering outs himself as an undercover cop and reveals the fictional feds who inspired him</p><p>My name is James Acaster (officially) and I am an undercover cop (secretly). For the past six years I have been posing as a stand-up comedian in order to infiltrate a gang supplying drugs to vulnerable comics. I am currently touring a show called Recognise, which is all about my experiences as the “only” undercover cop on the circuit. Here are the screen cops who have inspired me. They are in no particular order apart from the order I have put them in, which I did for a reason.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/stage/2014/sep/26/james-acaster-comedy-cops-chief-wiggum">Continue reading...</a>James AcasterComedyComedyOwen WilsonSherlockCultureFri, 26 Sep 2014 12:00:11 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/stage/2014/sep/26/james-acaster-comedy-cops-chief-wiggumIllustration: Matt GroeningThe Simpsons’ Police Chief Wiggum.Illustration: Matt GroeningThe Simpsons’ Police Chief Wiggum.Photograph: REX/PROwen Wilson (right) as Ken Hutchinson in Starsky &amp; Hutch.Photograph: REX/PROwen Wilson (right) as Ken Hutchinson in Starsky &amp; Hutch.Photograph: PRJames AcasterPhotograph: PRJames AcasterJames Acaster2014-09-26T12:00:11ZVenice film festival: thunder clouds and silver liningshttp://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/sep/07/venice-film-festival-review-birdman-black-souls-pasolini-pigeon-sat-existence
A rainy week in Venice was brightened by a brilliant Willem Dafoe, a new Bogdanovich and, best of all, a Swedish gem about a pair of travelling salesmen<p>Visitors to the <a href="http://www.labiennale.org/en/cinema/" title="">Venice film festival</a> are advised to bring a waterproof and keep umbrellas at the ready. The event invariably starts out hot and sunny, but don't be fooled, it will end in storms; it's the same way every time. The thunder cracks and the rains come down and the whole affair takes an autumnal turn.</p><p>How fitting that this year's festival should have opened with the electrifying <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJfLoE6hanc" title=""><strong>Birdman</strong></a>, in which Michael&nbsp;Keaton's fading old thespian turns his back on the mainstream and sets his sights on high art instead. It was a film that largely set the tone for the 10 days that followed, as lightning flashed, arthouse curios sprouted and big American titles proved to be as rare as hen's teeth. <a href="http://www.festival-cannes.com/en.html" title="">Cannes</a> may be more brash and exciting; <a href="http://www.sundance.org/festival/" title="">Sundance</a> more airy and wholesome. And yet humid, rotting Venice possesses peculiar charms of its own. By the time the storms roll in (middle Sunday, just before midnight), we are positively drowning in decent pictures.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/sep/07/venice-film-festival-review-birdman-black-souls-pasolini-pigeon-sat-existence">Continue reading...</a>Venice film festival 2014Willem DafoeMichael KeatonRoy AnderssonOwen WilsonA Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on ExistenceBirdmanPasoliniVenice film festivalFilmDramaComedyFestivalsCultureSat, 06 Sep 2014 23:08:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/sep/07/venice-film-festival-review-birdman-black-souls-pasolini-pigeon-sat-existenceSplash News/Corbis/Splash News/CorbisAl Pacino on the red carpet with his girlfriend Lucila Sola (right) and her daughter Camila. Photograph: Splash News/CorbisPR'A giddy metaphysical burlesque': Roy Andersson's A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence.PR'Purely terrific': Willem Dafoe as Pasolini.AGF srl/REX/AGF srl/REXKathryn Hahn, Louise Stratten, Peter Bogdanovich and Owen Wilson at the premiere of She’s Funny That Way. Photograph: AGF srl/REXAGF srl/REX/AGF srl/REXKathryn Hahn, Louise Stratten, Peter Bogdanovich and Owen Wilson at the premiere of She’s Funny That Way. Photograph: AGF srl/REXXan Brooks2014-09-06T23:08:00ZShe's Funny That Way: Bogdanovich is back, but the laughs aren't - reviewhttp://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/aug/29/shes-funny-that-way-bogdanovich-is-back-but-the-laughs-arent-review
<p>The director makes his return after 13 years with a musty farce that recalls Woody Allen in a bad way and offers too few good lines to a cast including Imogen Poots as a former prostitute, Owen Wilson her moneybags client and Jennifer Aniston as a shrink, writes <strong>Peter Bradshaw at the Venice film festival</strong></p><p>There’s a weird mothbally fragrance to this film by Peter Bogdanovich, co-scripted by him and his ex-wife and producer Louise Stratten, making her screenwriting debut; it is presented out of competition here at the Venice film festival —Bogdanovich’s first feature film as a director for many years.</p><p>She’s Funny That Way is a tangly screwball farce with a pile-up of wacky coincidences, a movie set notionally in the Manhattan of the present day, but behaving as if the action is happening in the 1970s or even the 30s, an impression reinforced by ancestor-worship references to the Hollywood Golden Age. There are one or two amiable gags, but it feels musty and dated, with picturesque, golden-hearted hookers embarrassing their well-intentioned clients; there are characters taking what they refer to as “long-distance” telephone calls and screaming fans who surround celebrities with autograph books and pens. </p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/aug/29/shes-funny-that-way-bogdanovich-is-back-but-the-laughs-arent-review">Continue reading...</a>Venice film festival 2014FilmCultureOwen WilsonJennifer AnistonComedyVenice film festivalRhys IfansFri, 29 Aug 2014 11:33:07 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/aug/29/shes-funny-that-way-bogdanovich-is-back-but-the-laughs-arent-reviewPhotograph: PRShe’s Funny That WayPhotograph: PRShe’s Funny That WayPhotograph: PRImogen Poots and Owen Wilson in She’s Funny That WayPhotograph: PRImogen Poots and Owen Wilson in She’s Funny That WayPeter Bradshaw in Venice2014-08-29T11:33:07ZDoes The Grand Budapest Hotel win Slate's Wes Anderson bingo?http://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/feb/25/does-the-grand-budapest-hotel-win-wes-anderson-bingo
<p>The online magazine created a bingo card for the tropes that recur in Anderson’s films. A paper copy seems apt, so go over to Slate and <a href="http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2012/05/24/wes_anderson_bingo_play_along_with_moonrise_kingdom_using_our_bingo_board_generator_.html">print your own</a>, then play along as you watch the film’s trailer</p><p>The wiki <a href="http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/HomePage">TV Tropes</a> states that tropes are conventions or devices. They are not cliches since cliches are dull, and Wes Anderson is never that. So, does The Grand Budapest Hotel get a full house in <a href="http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2012/05/24/wes_anderson_bingo_play_along_with_moonrise_kingdom_using_our_bingo_board_generator_.html" style="line-height: 1.5;">Slate magazine’s </a><a href="http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2012/05/24/wes_anderson_bingo_play_along_with_moonrise_kingdom_using_our_bingo_board_generator_.html"><span style="line-height: 1.5;">Wes A</span><span style="line-height: 1.5;">nderson Bingo</span></a><span style="line-height: 1.5;">?</span><span style="line-height: 1.5;"> Tick them off one by one.</span></p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/feb/25/does-the-grand-budapest-hotel-win-wes-anderson-bingo">Continue reading...</a>The Grand Budapest HotelWes AndersonFilmCultureBill MurrayVan MorrisonOwen WilsonJeff GoldblumWillem DafoeComedyDramaPaul SimonTue, 25 Feb 2014 19:00:12 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/feb/25/does-the-grand-budapest-hotel-win-wes-anderson-bingoPhotograph: Fox SearchlightPhotograph: Fox SearchlightPhotograph: Fox SearchlightPhotograph: Fox SearchlightPhotograph: Youtube/Fox SearchlightPhotograph: Fox SearchlightPhotograph: Youtube/Fox SearchlightPhotograph: Fox SearchlightPhotograph: Fox SearchlightPhotograph: Fox SearchlightPhotograph: Fox SearchlightPhotograph: Fox SearchlightPhotograph: Fox SearchlightPhotograph: Fox SearchlightPhotograph: Fox SearchlightPhotograph: Fox SearchlightPhotograph: Fox SearchlightPhotograph: Fox SearchlightPhotograph: Fox SearchlightPhotograph: Fox SearchlightPhotograph: Fox SearchlightPhotograph: Fox SearchlightPhotograph: Fox SearchlightPhotograph: Fox SearchlightPhotograph: Fox SearchlightPhotograph: Fox SearchlightPhotograph: Fox SearchlightPhotograph: Fox SearchlightPhotograph: Fox SearchlightPhotograph: Fox SearchlightPhotograph: Fox SearchlightPhotograph: Fox SearchlightPhotograph: Fox SearchlightPhotograph: Fox SearchlightPhotograph: Fox SearchlightPhotograph: Fox SearchlightPhotograph: Fox SearchlightPhotograph: Fox SearchlightPhotograph: Fox SearchlightPhotograph: Fox SearchlightPhotograph: Fox SearchlightPhotograph: Fox SearchlightPhotograph: Fox SearchlightPhotograph: Fox SearchlightPhotograph: Fox SearchlightPhotograph: Fox SearchlightPhotograph: Fox SearchlightPhotograph: Fox SearchlightPhotograph: Fox SearchlightPhotograph: Fox SearchlightPhotograph: Fox SearchlightPhotograph: Fox SearchlightPhotograph: Fox SearchlightTilda Photograph: Fox SearchlightPhotograph: Fox SearchlightTilda Photograph: Fox SearchlightPhotograph: Fox SearchlightPhotograph: Fox SearchlightPhotograph: Fox SearchlightPhotograph: Fox SearchlightPhotograph: Fox SearchlightPhotograph: Fox SearchlightPhotograph: Fox SearchlightPhotograph: Fox SearchlightPhotograph: Fox SearchlightPhotograph: Fox SearchlightPhotograph: Fox SearchlightPhotograph: Fox SearchlightPhotograph: Fox SearchlightPhotograph: Fox SearchlightPhotograph: Fox SearchlightPhotograph: Fox SearchlightFred McConnell2014-02-25T19:00:12ZFree Birds – reviewhttp://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/nov/28/free-birds-review
An odd but enjoyable animation about a Thanksgiving turkey, voiced by Owen Wilson, who is 'pardoned' by the US president<p>Here is a very odd but watchable animation. Where did they get the idea? Perhaps from the throwaway gag in Cars when some confused person in the crowd shouts &quot;Free bird!&quot; The theme is Thanksgiving: Owen Wilson voices Reggie, a turkey, who – like all the other turkeys – is&nbsp;heading for the chop, only to be miraculously saved by the president himself, represented as a husky-voiced Clintonesque man. The prez has chosen him as the traditional &quot;pardoned turkey&quot; and so living with the First Family, Reggie finds out about top-secret military plans to develop a time machine. He sneaks into this hi-tech craft, on a personal mission to head back to Plymouth Colony 1621, and change the turkey-eating tradition so he and his kind can be spared. Now, given what we know about what continues to be the Thanksgiving food of choice in America, how can the film arrive at a happy ending? I'm not sure: it's weirdly confusing and structurally unsound, though no more so than any film about time travel, including Looper and Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me. It is, however, enjoyable, with some funny lines.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/nov/28/free-birds-review">Continue reading...</a>AnimationFilmFamilyOwen WilsonWoody HarrelsonCultureFree BirdsThu, 28 Nov 2013 22:20:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/nov/28/free-birds-reviewRelativity/Sportsphoto/AllstarSome funny lines … Free Birds. Photograph: Relativity/Sportsphoto/AllstarRelativity/Sportsphoto/AllstarSome funny lines … Free Birds. Photograph: Relativity/Sportsphoto/AllstarPeter Bradshaw2013-11-28T22:20:00ZThe Grand Budapest Hotel to open for business at Berlin film festivalhttp://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/nov/05/grand-budapest-hotel-berlin-film-festival-wes-anderson
Wes Anderson's latest film, starring Ralph Fiennes as a hotel concierge, to have world premiere in the German capital<br /><br /><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2013/oct/17/grand-budapest-hotel-wes-anderson-movie-trailer">• The Grand Budapest Hotel trailer: first look at Wes Anderson's new movie</a><br /><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/film/2012/may/19/wes-anderson-moonrise-kingdom">• Wes Anderson interview: 'I don't think any of us are normal people'</a><p>Wes Anderson's The Grand Budapest Hotel will receive its world premiere at the 2014 Berlin film festival,<a href="http://www.berlinale.de/en/presse/pressemitteilungen/alle/Alle-Detail_19732.html"> it was announced today</a>.</p><p>Anderson's eighth feature as director stars Ralph Fiennes as the concierge of the hotel of the title, who takes a younger employee (Tony Revolori) under his wing. The film has Anderson's typically wide range of major names appearing in idiosyncratic roles, including Mathieu Amalric, Jude Law, Edward Norton, Harvey Keitel and Tilda Swinton, alongside Anderson regulars Adrien Brody, Bill Murray Jason Schwartzman and Owen Wilson.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/nov/05/grand-budapest-hotel-berlin-film-festival-wes-anderson">Continue reading...</a>The Grand Budapest HotelFilmWes AndersonRalph FiennesBill MurrayTilda SwintonJude LawOwen WilsonDramaComedyBerlin film festivalFestivalsUS newsGermanyWorld newsTue, 05 Nov 2013 12:31:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/nov/05/grand-budapest-hotel-berlin-film-festival-wes-andersonMartin Scali/PRBerlin or bust ... The Grand Budapest HotelMartin Scali/PRThe Grand Budapest Hotel. Regisseurs/Director: Wes Andersons. Darsteller/Cast: Paul Schlase (Igor), Tony Revolori (Zero Moustafa), Tilda Swinton (Madame D.), Ralph Fiennes (M. Gustave)Andrew Pulver2013-11-05T12:31:00ZGuy Lodge's DVDs and downloadshttp://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/nov/03/guy-lodge-dvds-and-downloads
Pixar goes back to college, and Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn try out at Google, but neither campus scores very highly in the comedy stakes<p>The start of November may seem early to be talking about Christmas shopping – or three months late, according to <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/business/poll/2012/aug/29/august-too-early-promote-christmas" title="">some tinsel-happy supermarket managers</a> – but it's evidently when DVD distributors start. So numerous are the blockbusters returning for your seasonal delectation in the next few weeks that we're jumping the gun a bit on <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/film/movie/155588/monsters-university" title=""><strong>Monsters University</strong></a><strong> </strong>(Disney, U), which roars – well, grunts non-threateningly – on to shelves on 11 November.</p><p>The once indomitable animation studio Pixar is currently a victim of its own high standards: <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/film/movie/142460/cars-2" title=""><em>Cars 2</em></a> and <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/film/movie/146821/brave" title=""><em>Brave</em></a> were technically immaculate but narratively wan, a trend that continues with this belated prequel to 2001's superior <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/film/movie/90412/monsters.inc." title=""><em>Monsters, Inc.</em></a> Looking back on the college days of one-eyed pea Mike (Billy Crystal) and hulking bully-turned-pal Sully (John Goodman) as they learn the art of professional child-scaring, it's essentially a string of family-friendly frathouse gags, with&nbsp;puny Mike's mastery of his inner ogre providing the bare minimum of pathos. With its jelly bean palette and frenetic slapstick set-ups, it's jolly enough, though I wonder if the unfamiliar uni setting will give it the replay value of <a href="www.theguardian.com/film/movie/102423/incredibles" title=""><em>The Incredibles</em></a> or the <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/film/movie/34576/toy-story-in-3d" title=""><em>Toy Story</em></a> trilogy for most kids.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/nov/03/guy-lodge-dvds-and-downloads">Continue reading...</a>Billy CrystalJohn GoodmanOwen WilsonMad MenPixarAnimationDVD and video reviewsFilmCultureSun, 03 Nov 2013 00:05:53 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/nov/03/guy-lodge-dvds-and-downloads20th Century FoxOwen Wilson and Vince Vaughn in The Internship. Photograph: 20th Century FoxJordin Althaus/AP‘This year's standout’: Linda Cardellini (Sylvia Rosen) with Jon Hamm as Don Draper in Mad Men. Photograph: Jordin Althaus/APPixarMonsters University: a victim of Pixar's own high standards. Photograph: PixarPixarMonsters University: a victim of Pixar's own high standards. Photograph: PixarGuy Lodge2013-11-03T00:05:53ZYou Are Here – first look reviewhttp://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/sep/09/you-are-here-toronto-2013-review-matthew-weiner
The directorial debut of Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner is sporadically funny, but its mix of comedy and emotion make for awkward bedfellows<br /><br /><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/sep/07/toronto-railway-man-review">• Review of The Railway Man</a><br /><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/sep/07/labor-day-review-jason-reitman-kate-winslet">• Review of Labor Day</a><p>The last great beard in show business is gone. Zach Galifianakis shaves it off near the end of You Are Here. It's not just the hair swirling down the sink, however: along with it goes his character Ben's previous incarnation as a free-thinking radical committed to environmentalism, social change and charging naked into Amish houses. But we're also saying goodbye to Galifianakis's own typecasting as Hollywood's resident clown-in-chief. The new Galifianakis, his smooth, clean chin assures us, can be a proper actor. Range. Nuance. Aftershave.</p><p>You Are Here, unfortunately, never quite convinces that it's a proper film. It's the first feature from Man Men creator Matthew Weiner, but though like that TV series it occasionally crackles with some fizzy, surprising dialogue, You Are Here ultimately suffers from a problem of tone. It wants to be a stoner bromance, a pastoral romcom and an incisive drama about mental illness. Rather like Galifianikis' own character, whose anti-establishment rantings might just be the symptom of a serious chemical imbalance, You Are Here's moments of dramatic clarity are swarmed by strange ideas that don't make much sense when examined at closer range.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/sep/09/you-are-here-toronto-2013-review-matthew-weiner">Continue reading...</a>Toronto film festival 2013Toronto film festivalOwen WilsonFilmMad MenFestivalsComedyDramaMon, 09 Sep 2013 16:49:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/sep/09/you-are-here-toronto-2013-review-matthew-weinerToronto film festivalGreat American bake-off ... Owen Wilson and Zach Galifianakis in You Are HereToronto film festivalOwen Wilson and Zach Galifianakis in You Are Here Photograph: Toronto film festivalChris Michael2013-09-09T16:49:00ZThe Internship – reviewhttp://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/jul/07/the-internship-review-wilson-vaughn
<p> Yes, this comedy about a pair of washed-up watch salesmen who land a month's work experience at Google is utterly corrupt (the search engine supplied ideas and locations, key themes and swanky kit; their co-founder has a cameo; tax avoidance is not a plot point). But then Shane Meadows's <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/movie/124575/somers.town" title=""><em>Somers Town</em></a> was bankrolled by Eurostar and that turned out swell; just because this is so blatant and lowbrow should not be due reason to damn it.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/jul/07/the-internship-review-wilson-vaughn">Continue reading...</a>Owen WilsonComedyDramaFilmGoogleCultureSun, 07 Jul 2013 00:04:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/jul/07/the-internship-review-wilson-vaughnPROwen Wilson and Vince Vaughn in The Internship.Catherine Shoard2013-07-07T00:04:00ZThe Internship - video reviewhttp://www.theguardian.com/film/video/2013/jul/05/the-internship-video-review
In an excerpt from <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/video/2013/jul/05/bling-ring-now-you-see-me-video-review">this week's Guardian Film Show</a>, Henry Barnes, Peter Bradshaw and Catherine Shoard search for laughs in a buddy movie set at Google headquarters. The Internship stars Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn as two out-of-work watch salesmen competing for a sought-after place on the search giant's trainee programme <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/film/video/2013/jul/05/the-internship-video-review">Continue reading...</a>CultureFilmComedyOwen WilsonFri, 05 Jul 2013 13:25:49 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/film/video/2013/jul/05/the-internship-video-review20th Century FoxOwen Wilson and Vince Vaughn in The Internship Photograph: 20th Century FoxHenry Barnes, Catherine Shoard, Peter Bradshaw, Ken Macfarlane, Sonal Bajaj and Thibaut Remy2013-07-05T13:25:49ZThe Internship – reviewhttp://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/jul/05/internship-review
Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn's overlong "comedy" is chillingly in thrall to Google<p> Error Code 404: Laughs Not Found. There is a creepy, undead feel to this lumbering comedy set in the offices of Google, and Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn have a distinct Baron Samedi look in their eyes. They star in a depressing, and depressingly long, film as two unemployed, middle-aged salesmen who fluke their way into internship positions at the internet giant. Eerily unencumbered with personal or family responsibilities, the guys find their man-child slacker personae not going down well with all the uptight, smartphone-obsessed youngsters, who don't dig their jokey 80s references. </p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/jul/05/internship-review">Continue reading...</a>ComedyOwen WilsonGoogleFilmCultureFri, 05 Jul 2013 09:01:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/jul/05/internship-reviewPhil Bray/PRLumbering … The Internship.
Photograph: Phil BrayPeter Bradshaw2013-07-05T09:01:00ZThe Guardian Film Show: The Bling Ring, Now You See Me, A Field in England and The Internship - video reviewhttp://www.theguardian.com/film/video/2013/jul/05/bling-ring-now-you-see-me-video-review
Catherine Shoard and Peter Bradshaw join Henry Barnes to review the latest big cinema releases. This week we're breaking and entering with the magpie teens of Sofia Coppola's <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/movie/154498/bling-ring">The Bling Ring</a>; pulling reviews of <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/movie/155486/now-you-see-me">Now You See Me</a> - a Vegas heist movie about a gang of bank-robbing magicians - out of a hat; tripping through the mushroom patch with Ben Wheatley's <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/movie/155966/field-in-england">A Field in England</a>; and searching for laughs in the Google-sponsored comedy <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/movie/155768/internship">The Internship</a>. Plus interviews with Bling Ring star Emma Watson and Now You See Me's Jesse Eisenberg <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/film/video/2013/jul/05/bling-ring-now-you-see-me-video-review">Continue reading...</a>Emma WatsonSofia CoppolaJesse EisenbergBen WheatleyOwen WilsonComedyDramaCultureFilmThe Bling RingA Field in EnglandFri, 05 Jul 2013 09:00:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/film/video/2013/jul/05/bling-ring-now-you-see-me-video-reviewPRComposite of stills from films reviewed on the July 5 Guardian Film ShowHenry Barnes, Catherine Shoard, Peter Bradshaw, Ken Macfarlane, Sonal Bajaj and Thibaut Remy2013-07-05T09:00:00ZThe Internship: how cinema sold its soul – but didn't get paidhttp://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2013/jul/01/internship-google-cinema-sells-its-soul
The unctuous Fox-produced movie about Google is a giant free advertisement for its corporate mentor, and a disturbing trend<p> Fancy shelling out your hard-earned cash to watch a two-hour corporate video? If so, you've a treat in store. <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/movie/155768/internship" title="">The Internship</a> isn't billed as a commercial: it's supposed to be a wacky comedy in which the one-time <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/movie/107105/wedding.crashers" title="">Wedding Crashers</a> gatecrash a tech giant's intern scheme. However, the film isn't set in a fictional workplace, as you might expect: the firm involved is explicitly <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/google" title="">Google</a>, and the search monster pretty much steals the show from Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2013/jul/01/internship-google-cinema-sells-its-soul">Continue reading...</a>FilmCultureComedyGoogleOwen WilsonMon, 01 Jul 2013 14:45:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2013/jul/01/internship-google-cinema-sells-its-soulPRA decent price ... Eurostar funded the whole budget for Shane Meadows' Somers TownPhil Bray/PRIn love with the Googleplex… Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn in The Internship. Photograph: Phil BrayDavid Cox2013-07-01T14:45:00ZThe Internship, a $60m pr blowjob for Google that thankfully floppedhttp://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/jun/28/the-internship-john-patterson
What demographic, exactly, wants to watch Vince Vaughan and Owen Wilson buffing up the search giant's image as a groovy place to work?<p>The most encouraging statistic of the summer arrived a fortnight ago, when it was revealed that <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/movie/155768/internship" title="">The Internship</a>, a $60m hymn to digi-corporate neo-feudalism disguised as an innocuous summer buddy-comedy, had eked out fourth spot on the weekend box office list. Despite a month-long carpet-bombing promo campaign, it was beaten by two holdover releases and one trashy thriller, <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/movie/155399/purge" title="">The Purge</a>, made for just $3m.</p><p>The Internship itself hardly matters. Think of it as a failed attempt to resurrect the Vince Vaughn/Owen Wilson glory days of <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/movie/107105/wedding.crashers" title="">Wedding Crashers</a> back in 2005, just without the R rating or any of the good jokes. They play two watch salesmen made redundant by the iPhone who, in desperation, compete against kids half their age for a &quot;coveted&quot; summer internship at Google (who cooperated fully with the film-makers and for whom the movie constitutes some kind of nauseating, never-ending PR blowjob). Worldly-wise but digi-ignorant, the Vaughn-Wilson jock explosion throw in their lot with the socially maladjusted nerdly-wise virgins and soon enough, with the help of code-writing lessons for the oldies and lap dances for the virgin-geeks, they all learn to get along.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/jun/28/the-internship-john-patterson">Continue reading...</a>FilmCultureOwen WilsonComedyFri, 28 Jun 2013 16:00:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/jun/28/the-internship-john-pattersonAllstar/20TH CENTURY FOX/Sportsphoto Ltd./AllstarThe Internship. Photograph: Allstar/20TH CENTURY FOX/Sportsphoto Ltd./AllstarPhil BrayPhotograph: Phil BrayAllstar/20TH CENTURY FOX/Sportsphoto Ltd./AllstarThe Internship. Photograph: Allstar/20TH CENTURY FOX/Sportsphoto Ltd./AllstarPhil BrayThe Internship Photograph: Phil BrayJohn Patterson2013-06-28T16:00:00Z